Breakaway
by sorinslayer4eva
Summary: When Aelita is destroyed by Xana's monsters, it's up for the Lyoko gang to try and continue on with saving the world.
1. Breakaway

A/N- Like everyone else says, this is my first fan-fic, blah, blah, blah. This is a sad story, and there will be a sequel titled under Breakaway Part II. So enjoy my story y'all!

Breakaway

"Jeremie? Jeremie, it's me Aelita. Please answer!" Aelita was only answered by Jeremie's away message. "This is Jeremie telling you that I am busy with my friends. Please reply your name and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Aelita, her head tilted toward the floor of the tower, closed the information table and walked out of the tower and back into the desert region. She walked toward a rock and sat down on it. Tears fell from her eyes and hit the firm ground. The first tears ever to fall in Lyoko.

The tears. The ground. None of it was real. She wasn't real. Jeremie and his friends were real. Why would a genius want with a girl that wasn't even real? Aelita stood up and walked toward the edge of the canyon and prepared to fall.

At the last moment she caught herself. What was she doing? She needed to exist for the sake of the real world. The world that she only remembered in faint memories. Aelita walked back to the rock. She looked up just at the right moment. Several roaches were right in front of her.

Aelita leaped up from her rock and ran toward the sanctuary of two rock walls. She felt a laser hit her back. The first hit in a long time.

She had to make it. In several more leaps, she would be there. Another hit. There, she was safe. No, she was trapped. There were no halls leading from the small area. Aelita backed up against the corner. The roaches were entering the hall. Aelita looked up to see several ledges. She swung herself up to the first ledge.

Another hit, this time to her ankle. Aelita slipped, but managed to get on top of the rock. The roaches followed her, giving her no mercy. But once again, she was cornered. There was no place to climb to. This was it.

'Goodbye Jeremie, goodbye forever...' A single tear fell from Aelita's wide eyes as she disappeared. It felt as if it was forever to disappear. The tear hit the ground. A harsh laughing noise seemed to echo through Lyoko.

A/N- Unless I get reviews, I won't start Breakaway Part II. So plez review!- Sorin slayer


	2. Breakaway Part I Chapter I

A/N- Okay y'all don't go strangling me with a belt yet! Cause Part II is up! It's lots longer than the last one! Oh yeah, I forgot this last time:

Disclaimer: I do not own Code: Lyoko, although one day I will!

Aelita opened her eyes. Fog surrounded her. "Where... where am I?" It was the same question every Lyokian asked after they died.

The fog began to clear up, and a tower was only several hundred feet away. Due to her instincts, Aelita ran toward the tower, thinking that she wasn't dead. She entered the tower, and rose to the second level. She held out her hand and touched the screen.

The word 'Aelita' appeared over her handprint. Now the word 'code' appeared on the screen. Aelita felt herself typing out the word Code: Heaven.

What was going on? She was in Lyoko (Or so she thought)! Aelita rose in the air, and felt wind swirling around her. Suddenly, she fell towards the ground.

Her mouth opened, but no scream came out. The fog was still blocking her view, but she could see enough that she was going to hit the ground any second now.

'Okay Aelita,' she told herself, 'Prepare for impact.' Aelita screamed.

"We shouldn't have left her for a minute!" Jeremie was in his room with the others. He was nervously pacing around the room, pulling his hair.

"Relax Jeremie, she's probably just in a guardian. We'll get ready to rescue her." Ulrich was on Jeremie's bed, looking as serious as ever.

"But why? He's already done that? Why would Xana do it again?" Jeremie couldn't be convinced that Aelita was in a guardian.

"Maybe Xana's perfected it somehow." Yumi was sitting in Jeremie's computer chair.

"Maybe. I'll set a scan for any guardians." Yumi left Jeremie's chair to join Ulrich on the bed. "No, there are none." Jeremie's glasses fell off of his face and hit the floor. All of them looked toward the ground. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when..."

Ulrich looked at Jeremie. Yumi stood up. "You still have her hair, don't you?"

"No."

The other's jaws dropped. Jeremie without Aelita's hair?

"Odd, remember when you kept Kiwi in my room a couple weeks ago?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well... Kiwi was playing around, and he knocked it into the ventilation shaft."

"He what?!"

Jeremie didn't answer.

Then Yumi spoke up. "We should honor Aelita. Meet me in the park in 5 minutes. I'll bring flowers. Odd, Ulrich, why don't you find a nice tombstone?" They nodded.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd left Jeremie's room with sad looks of their faces. Jim just happened to be standing right outside Jeremie's room. He saw the looks on their faces and entered the room.

"Jeremie, are you all right?" Jeremie looked at Jim; his glasses still on the floor.

Tears were in Jeremie's eyes. "Go away."

Jim moved closer to Jeremie. "If there's a problem, you can tell me. That's what I'm here for."

Jim's face was now next to Jeremie's. "Go away."

Jim walked toward the door. "If that's how you feel. Now, if you ever want to talk, I'm here." Jim left the room.

Outside, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd were standing around a neat little grave. Yumi finished her speech and dropped a bouquet of daffodils on the patch of earth before the gravestone. They then went their separate ways, and not a word was said.

Jeremie looked up at the dazzling sun. He wished more than ever that Aelita was here.

Yumi trudged back to her home slowly. So many things were on her mind. It had been so sudden. They had returned from the pool, her included, and they decided to check up on Aelita. Yumi stopped and remembered...

"_That was so awesome!" Jeremie and his friends burst through Jeremie's door. Jeremie was cheering around and was full of excitement. The others just walked in, mumbling their agreement. "I've got to tell Aelita!" Jeremie sat down at his computer. "Aelita? Aelita?" Tears came to his eyes. His greatest nightmare was coming true. "AELITA!"_

Yumi suddenly covered her ears. The sound of Jeremie's scream was echoing in her head. After several moments, the sound faded away. Yumi continued her way back.

"Young lady, you're 10 minutes late! What happened?" Yumi walked through her front door. Yumi's mother was waiting for her, wearing a red dress, an apron, and her hair pulled back in a bun. She had been sweeping the wooden floor, but stopped when Yumi had entered.

"I had stuff to do." Yumi walked toward the stairs.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!"

Yumi turned her head to look at her mother, one foot frozen on the bottom step. She tried to hold her tears back, and her attempt worked. But her mother could still see that Yumi was upset. "Even if I did tell you, you wouldn't get it."

Yumi walked up the stairs and into her room. Yumi's mother stared worriedly at where her daughter had just stood. Yumi's father joined her from the kitchen, his mug of tea still in hand.

_My life is a wreck. This day started off perfect, with us going to the pool. Aelita said goodbye, but that was the last time we ever saw her. Before she disappeared. We don't know how, but she is. _

Ulrich paused in his writing. He slid the cap onto his pen and closed the small blue book and looked at Odd. He was in the corner, playing with Kiwi.

'He acts like nothing's happened,' Ulrich thought. The only thing that was missing was Odd's voice encouraging Kiwi in whatever he was doing.

"I'm off. There's nothing to do here." Ulrich stood up and walked into the courtyard. It was still a sunny, warm, Sunday afternoon, and most people were enjoying the weekend while they could.

"Hello Ulrich, dear. How are you doing?"

'Great, Sissy,' Ulrich thought. He had been leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, letting the sun warm him up. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sissy leaning toward him with a sugary smile on her face.

"Fine until you came," Ulrich lied. He wasn't just about to express his soul to a girl he hated.

"Where are your friends? Don't tell me that they are hurt or dumped you. Although I wish that they had," murmured Sissy softly, so softly that Ulrich couldn't hear.

"No they didn't abandon me, but I wish you'd abandon me sometime around now."

Sissy ignored that last comment. "So, do you want to hang out tonight?" She batted her eyelashes and folded her hands in a way that she looked like she was trying to look innocent (Wow, that was a mouthful). "I'm sure we could skive off and go see a movie."

"With you, no. With Yumi, yes."

"Aw come on! It'll be fun!"

"Hang out with you? I don't think so."

"But-"

"Sissy! You should know! Your father has strict rules against us leaving the campus." Ulrich plucked Sissy's hands off of his shirt. She was down on the ground, _begging_ for him to go out with her.

"But Ulrich, I know how much you love breaking rules."

This last comment fueled some anger hidden in Ulrich. Sissy had just stood up, trying to give him puppy-dog eyes.

"No! I break them if I have to! Now leave me alone!"

Ulrich swung out his arm and sent Sissy sprawling across the concrete. Tears came to Sissy's eyes. Somehow, everyone had heard their conversation, and everyone at the exact same time looked at Ulrich (It's possible. I should know). Sissy stood up, wiped a tear from her eye, and ran as far away from Ulrich as she could get without smashing into a wall.

The next thing Ulrich knew, he was being taken to the principal's office.

"Ulrich! Your foolish behavior hurt someone this time!" The principal glared at Ulrich from behind his desk. Ulrich sat in a chair across from him, and Jim was, as usual, next to Mr. Whatever-Sissy's-Last-Name-Is. Ulrich was staring guiltily at his shoes. "Now tell me! Why did you do such a thing?"

"I... I... Sissy, she..." Ulrich's eyes widened in surprise. Because the truth was, he didn't know why he had hit Sissy. What she said bugged him a little, but he always went through that kind of stuff. "I don't know," whispered Ulrich in a hoarse voice.

"What?"

"I don't know," Ulrich said louder.

"Now Ulrich-"

The principal was cut off by Jim. "He's telling the truth."

"What? Jim, you're usually trying to catch these kids misbehaving, not defending them!"

"Yeah, but I have a feeling in my gut."

'God, that is such a lame excuse. Jim gets 5 points for trying,' Ulrich thought. He rocked back and forth in his seat as Jim and the principal argued.

"Very well. Ulrich, you should thank Jim. You will just receive a severe warning: Don't hurt anyone again, or I will cut off many of your privileges."

"Thanks Jim." Ulrich stood up and walked back toward the dorms. He needed sometime to think.

As Ulrich walked toward the dorms, Odd ran up to him. Ulrich paused as Odd caught his breath. "I heard what happened to Sissy. What happened?" Odd looking up at Ulrich, his hands still resting on his thighs and still breathing harder than usual.

"I don't know, but we, all of us, need to talk."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A/N- Heeheeï 


	3. Breakaway Part II Chapter II

A/N- Sorry my loyal fans. I was very busy with school and all, but I'm back! Yay!

_**breakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakaway**_

"What is it Ulrich? I'm busy." The 4 of them were now sitting in Jeremie's room. Jeremie was sitting in his chair, working at his computer. Yumi was sitting in Jeremie's desk chair, Ulrich on the bed, and Odd was residing on the floor.

"More busy than when we had to go to Lyoko?" Yumi smiled. She folded her arms and she clearly wanted Jeremie to reply back.

"Yumi, it's Ulrich's turn to talk. Ulrich? We don't have all day!"

"That's the problem Jeremie! Things aren't the same in without Lyoko and Aelita. Lyoko, Lyoko feels like a freedom to me." Ulrich stared out the window.

"Freedom," Yumi said softly.

"What?"

"Freedom! Freedom Jeremie, freedom! Lyoko is freedom for us! We're not like everyone else!" Yumi had stood up, pointing toward the door, toward all of the other kids playing in the sunlight.

"We belong in Lyoko! Are you getting this Jeremie? Are you even listening to me?"

Yumi grabbed Jeremie's collar and lifted him into the air, screaming into his face. She quickly lowered him and stepped back, fearful that she had hurt her friend. Jeremie's head had drooped on his shoulders, and his eyes were closed.

"Omigod, Jeremie, are you okay?" She put her hand to her mouth, and her eyes were widened in terror.

Jeremie looked up at them, and his eyes opened. "Okay, we'll go. But what will we do there? What if Xana attacks? What if we can't enter the code?"

"Then we'll just have to try. One of us might be able to do it. We've never tried. Hey, maybe you might be able to do it Jeremie. We all have powers it's a possibility!"

Ulrich looked at Jeremie with a small smirk on his face. Jeremie's widened and he pushed back in his chair. "No way! I am not going into one of the scanners!" He waved his hands in front of him as if a scanner was walking toward him.

"Don't be silly Jeremie," said Yumi as she tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "We need someone to get us there. But there is still one problem. When are we going to go?"

"Next weekend?" suggested Odd.

"No, that'll be too late. I want to go now!" Ulrich stood up and slammed his fist on Jeremie's table. "I don't know if I'll live that long. Especially with Sissy around." He turned and looked out of the window. Sissy was back to normal and was acting like she's the queen of England again. (ï Revolutionï)

"What are you suggesting Ulrich? That we go during class/" asked Yumi.

"Exactly," said Jeremie, and a grin was spreading across his face.

The others looked awestruck, except for Ulrich. He smiled too and said, "So, what's the plan?"

"What are we going to do? Use the old infirmary trick? That's not gonna work," said Odd. He popped a piece of Jeremie's now-discovered candy into his mouth.

"Odd's right. Besides, we plan to stay all day. Jeremie, what's your plan?" Ulrich looked at Jeremie.

"Okay. Here's what we're gonna do..."

"We're gonna build cyborgs?" Odd threw his hands up in the air. The other 3 were working on making theirs.

"Uh huh," sad Jeremie as he took off his heat mask.

"But that's gonna take 4eva!" proclaimed Odd.

"Just shut up and start working," said Ulrich as he wiped a drop of sweat off his face.

"How long to you think this is gonna take Jeremie?" asked Yumi. She too had stopped working for a moment to get some fresh air.

"According to my calculations, all night," said Jeremie calmly.

"All night! Jeremie, I can't be here all night! It's late enough as it is! What will my folks say?" Yumi cried.

"Well you could just bring your robot home and work on it there," replied Jeremie.

"Use your common sense! My folks will be wondering why I brought home an almost-finished cyborg!" Yumi proclaimed.

"Say it's a science project," Jeremie carefully inspected his robot for any errors he might have missed during the argument.

"That's not the only problem. Jim might catch us when we try to go back. And with Odd not helping us," Ulrich gestured to Odd's sleeping figure leaning against a metal box, "This might have to lead into the morning. I really want to go to Lyoko, but there are consequences if we're caught."

Yumi sighed in disgust before walking over to Odd and poking him sharply on the shoulder. He blinked slowly and lifted his head slightly off of its resting place. "Wha?" asked Odd.

Seeing that Odd was awake, Yumi walked over to another metal crate and sat on it, resting her elbow on another one, and her chin in her open palm. "Why is it gonna take so long Jeremie?"

"Well, the biggest part in the brain."

"That's easy, you don't have to install one in Odd!" Yumi burst into giggles at Ulrich's remark.

"This isn't a laughing matter! We have to make them answer realistic question, reply right to anyone's remark, talk in the right way, etc..." Jeremie said angrily.

"How long do you think it'll take? I should be getting home soon," said Yumi.

To their surprise, Jeremie grinned. "Not too long. I just need a recording of all of your voices, and I'll be able to install a brain in each of yours. Then I'm gonna need a bit of your DNA, or some hair to replicate it. If you just give it to me, then I can finish your robots in no time."

"I'm gonna call my parents and ask if I can stay over night to work on a project. It's not a lie," said Yumi truthfully, and she walked over into another room to call on her cell phone.

"They gave me the okay as long as I get the project done and come home on time tomorrow," said Yumi. "Can I hang in your room Jeremie? I don't feel like spending my money on ear plugs," asked Yumi.

Ulrich and Yumi couldn't suppress their laughter as they burst into giggles. They laughed and laughed, as they leaned against each other. When their hands touched, they stopped ad moved away from each other, blushing.

"Hey, what did you mean by the earplugs?" asked Odd, looking at them strangely. This time, the two swallowed their laughter. "Nothing, nothing," said Ulrich as he went to go and look at how Jeremie was doing.

"So Jeremie, can I?" asked Yumi.

"Sure Yumi, just don't snore," said Jeremie as he finished his replica. "We're gonna be done sooner than I thought. I've even finished mine. And now it's time for your three. Come on, we have to go to the scanners so I can replicate your movements and voices."

"Just like old times eh?" asked Ulrich through sleepy eyes as Jeremie looked at Yumi on the computer screen of the super computer. Jeremie glared at Ulrich, and he shut up.

"Okay Yumi, you're done. Let's see, hmm..." Jeremie typed in a series of letters and numbers before entering it in the super computer.

"Okay Yumi, here's your brain," said Jeremie as Yumi came upstairs and Ulrich went into the elevator. He gave her what looked like a brain. She joined Odd as he installed and fused the brain inside his.

It took half an hour, but it worked. "The time of truth. Just press the on switch, and it should start working," said Jeremie. All of them reached toward the switch, and slowly turned them on.

It was as if someone had cloned each one of the Lyoko gang, and each of them began to talk to another. The real Yumi and the fake Ulrich started to talk, along w/ the fake Odd and the real Ulrich, and the two Jeremie's and the fake Yumi began to talk.

"Wow, they seem real," said Yumi to Ulrich over her shoulder. "What do you mean we seem real? We are real!" said one of the cyborgs.

"Maybe a little too real," muttered Yumi after the remark, and after the Odd cyborg burped quite loudly. "Okay, off time," said Yumi. She reached toward the off switch, but the robot knocked her hand away.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help!" said Yumi as she drew her hand away. "Sure," said the clone. It made a 'sure' face and placed its hands on its hips.

Yumi reached toward the switch again, but before she even got close, the fake Ulrich pushed her out of the way. "Don't touch her!" he cried.

Yumi clenched her fists in anger, but Ulrich placed his hand on her shoulder. "If they're exactly like us, than we know their weaknesses. I'll get the opposite you, you get the opposite me."

The two of them attacked the fake replicas. Yumi got Ulrich on the ground, and for that split second, she turned the robot off. Ulrich got Yumi in a headlock, and he reached down to her waist to turn the switch off. The two robots fell to the ground in defeat. Yumi and Ulrich smiled, and then went to get the fake Odd and the fake Jeremie.

It didn't take too long. The robots didn't put up much of a fight, and soon all of them were off. Yumi and Ulrich were covered in sweat and were breathing heavily.

"Time to paint!" said Jeremie cheerfully, and he held up two paint cans.

The colors he found were the exact ones of their skin. He also had black, blue, yellow, orange, and all of the colors they were going to need. Ulrich was amazed at how good the paint was.

"It's as if they are fresh," said Ulrich as he painted his hair. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the factory area. I bet Xana wanted to do something this at one point. He had all of the colors, and they're all fresh," said Jeremie. Using the tip of the paintbrush, he made a small black dot for the pupil.

After 11, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich decided to go to sleep. Their robots weren't done being painted, but Jeremie was going to finish them.

At 2:00 a.m., Jeremie finished (yes, it took that long). Jeremie wiped the sweat off of his brow and headed carefully towards the dorm. Jim was sleeping by the exit to the campus, and Jeremie was careful not to wake him up.

"Yumi! Yumi!"

Yumi rolled over in her sleep, trying to block Jeremie's voce out.

"Yumi, Yumi!"

Yumi sat up?"

"What?!" she snapped.

"The robots are gone!"

_**Breakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakawaybreakaway**_

A/N- Okay, just like I like to, I ended with a cliffy! Bwahahaha....

Oh yeah, whoever updates first will get a prize...


	4. Breakaway Part II Chapter III

A/N: Okay, I'm back. And the winner of the prize is...

spAybaraSimonslit!

Yes, yes I know it looks like wolfpuppriestess was first, but that was just cause I messed up really badly on a chapter and she reviewed it. She got a nice prize of tofu waffles in the mail. Okay, read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

Yumi stared at Jeremie. She couldn't believe her ears. But she had no time to ponder over this, because the next moment Jeremie blurted out, "We have to go wake Odd and Ulrich! Come on!"

Yumi leaped to her feet and followed Jeremie down the hallway and towards the boy's room. Skidding to a halt in front of it, Yumi opened up the door and screamed, "Wake up!"

Even through the ear plugs, the boys could hear the girl's yells. "Why are you wearing ear plugs?" Ulrich asked Odd.

Odd popped them out of his ears. "Ever since I learned that you do. And I see no point to them. They're useless." He tossed them onto the floor.

"Who cares? We have to go to the factory!" Pulling on their shoes and coats over their pajamas, they followed Yumi.

They Lyoko gang sprinted to the factory. They had no lime to waste. Meanwhile, Jeremie was telling them what happened.

"I couldn't sleep a wink last night because I worried there would be some technical difficulties in them." He was trying to use his normal vocabulary as little as possible so that they wouldn't get confused.

"So I came over to the factory to check for any flaws and when I got there, they were gone!"

"Just like that?" asked Ulrich from Jeremie's right.

"Mmhmm."

They reached the factory gates and headed for the ropes. Yumi went first, and then Odd. Jeremie took hold of the rope and tried to copy him, but ended up falling off.

As Jeremie fell toward the cement floor, he closed his eyes, and suddenly he felt a hand grab him by the collar. It was Ulrich. They landed on the ground on their feet, and then headed for the manufacturing level.

Yumi squatted down and looked at where the robots had last been. There were no clues to solve this mystery.

"Who do you think could have done this?" she asked.

"Xana." Jeremie pounded his right fist into his other open palm.

"Any other options?"

"Xana."

"Anyone else?"

"Xana."

Yumi rolled her eyes and straightened up. "What's the proof that only Xana could have done this?"

"For starters, Xana can go and get things out of the way without a trace. And Xana has the motivation. He's had this grudge against us for ages."

Yumi interrupted him. "Jeremie, anyone can do that."

Ulrich nodded, and then gestured the area around them. "Using this machinery, anyone could have done it. Even Odd."

"Hey!" Odd elbowed Ulrich in the side.

"So we have no idea who could have done this," said Yumi. Jeremie nodded at her. Yumi sighed in frustration.

After several more minutes of silence, Ulrich checked his watch and said, "It's almost time for breakfast, we should get back to school."

And to make matters worst, it began to pour (Has anyone ever noticed that it never rains in Code: Lyoko? Well it does now!). The Lyoko gang trudged back to school for another day of torture instead of freedom and bliss.

* * *

A/N- Nothin' much to say. So please review.


	5. Breakaway Part II Chapter IV

A/N: Okay I'm back. And now what happens next…

**_Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway_**

The Lyoko gang spent all week looking for the culprit. But after 2 days of no results, Jeremie announced, "There's only 2 days until the weekend. Maybe we should go then." He turned to Ulrich to check if that was okay.

Ulrich nodded, still upset about their missing robots. So they waited.

The days seemed like forever. Finally the last bell rang and school was out for the weekend. After finishing their boring homework, Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie ran over to the factory through the sewers. This time, Jeremie took the stairs down. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich leaped down by the ropes and entered the elevator.

His brow dripping with sweat, Jeremie sat down in front of the super computer. His hand paused over the mouse, it shaking like the rest of his body.

"Come on Jeremie! We don't have all day!" Ulrich called to the ceiling. He tapped his foot impatiently on the floor. "What's taking so long?"

Jeremie hesitated, and then started the virtualization process. Holding the microphone near his mouth, he said, "Get into the scanners." Even his voice shook.

This was the first time he was going to do something without Aelita. "Be brave," said the tiny voice in is head. Nodding, he repeated the most common used words in Code: Lyoko. Crossing his fingers, the intelligent teen pressed the final button, and hoped that his friends had not heard the worry in his voice.

"Jeremie! Jeremie! We're here! We're in Lyoko!" Jeremie opened his eyes and looked at the monitor. Sure enough, 3 green triangles were there, with the labels Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. "I can't believe it!- I mean, of course you're there. What do you think I am, a 6-year old?"

Ulrich ran along the open landscape of the desert region. His heart and soul were free from the trap that had been sealing them in for so long.

"Be careful Ulrich, there might be some monsters hiding around," said Yumi. Her hand was positioned over her fan, as if she expected a monster to reveal itself anytime now.

"Stop being such a Johnny-rain-cloud! (National Treasure. That movie rocks! ;))"

"Hey! You're usually the oh-so-serious one when it has to do with Lyoko!"

"Yeah, but there are no problems now."

"No problems!" Yumi cried, her eyes wide open as if Ulrich had just said that he was getting married to Sissy. "So you consider Aelita dead not a problem! She's the only one who can stop the Xana attacks. How are we supposed to save the world without her?"

Ulrich stopped skipping around in big circles around them and glared at Yumi. "Maybe one of us can do it. We've never tried. That was the point of us coming here."

"Liar! The point of us coming here was to make you happy. And I don't want to waste my afternoon watching you skip around. Jeremie," she said, now talking directly to Jeremie, "Bring me home."

"But Yumi," protested Ulrich.

But Yumi had already vanished thanks to a new program Jeremie had recently installed. Because she hadn't been destroyed by the monsters, Yumi was fine when she walked out of the scanners to join Jeremie.

"Jeremie, make Yumi change her mind," pleaded Ulrich. "If you can't make her, than bring me home too."

But before Jeremie could reply, Yumi leaned over him and talked into the microphone. "He's not going to make me change my mind. You wanted to go to Lyoko, and there you are. Just go and play like 6-year olds now."

Yumi straightened up and walked quickly towards the elevator. Soon she was returning to the campus to gather up their stuff and then returned home.

Meanwhile in Lyoko, Odd hadn't been disturbed by Yumi's lecture. He glanced at Ulrich to check if he was okay too. But if he was, he didn't show any sign of it.

After a moment's silence, Ulrich said to Odd, "Wanna just run around, blow any monsters that we meet? We're here anyway."

Odd nodded, and they ran out towards the main land and whatever danger Xana was going to throw at them.

When Monday morning came, Ulrich found out that Yumi wasn't talking to him. No matter how many times he tried to get her talk, she wouldn't reply. It was like when he was 'going out' with Emily. He sulked at his loss.

Sissy however took this as an advantage. The moment she saw this, she stalked right up to Ulrich, leaving Herb and Nicholas behind. When they tried to follow by running, she stuck out her arm, causing them to crash into it and to fall in a heap in the shadow of a nearby tree.

"Hello Ulrich—"

"Dear, yes I already know."

Sissy ignored this and carried on with her 'perfect' plan. "Is Yumi being mean to you?"

"No."

"Then why won't she talk to you?"

'_She didn't do anything wrong, I did,'_ thought Ulrich, but he didn't want Sissy to learn their secret and their fight. So he just pretended he was a conceited idiot while kinda telling the truth. "She's just being stubborn."

"Did she do something wrong but not admit it?"

Ulrich was surprised. He and Sissy were actually having a conversation. But that would change.

"Yeah."

"She did!" What?"

"She murdered Jim and doesn't listen to me when I tell her that it wasn't the right thing to do."

"She did! Omigod, I am so going to tell on her for this…"

Ulrich had to struggle to keep from bursting into laughter.

"I have to tell my father right away! Hey!" Sissy just realized that Jim was standing a couple meters away from her. "You liar!" she spat.

Ulrich doubled over with laughter, and Odd along with Jeremie joined him, for they had been eavesdropping on them. "Well," said Odd between fits of laughter, "that makes two girls that hate you now!"

Ulrich ignored the last remark and continued laughing his heart out. Everyone on the school ground could hear, and that meant Yumi too.

She turned to look at the trio from on the bench. Since Sissy's back was facing her, she couldn't see her angry expression on her face. But she could see that Sissy was leaning over with her hands on her knees, which looked like she was laughing too. She sighed sadly. Before the fight, it had been her, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie who had been laughing together. Now Sissy was probably part of the group. She stood up and walked off to class right before Sissy started telling them off.

Through Sissy's angry speech, Ulrich saw Yumi walking off and stopped laughing. _'She looks so sad,'_ he thought unhappily. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked off in the middle of Sissy's scolding.

Sissy and the others stopped whatever they were doing too and watched Ulrich walk off.

Ulrich could feel the eyes watching his every move, but he merely shifted the position of is backpack and moved on. Time to make things right.

**_Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway Part II Chapter IV Breakaway_**

A/N: Yeah, didn't really get too far on this chapter. But the next few chapters are going to be exciting, I can guarantee that. But you have to review, or I'm not gonna update. Happy reviewing!- sorinslayer4eva


	6. Something about You

A/N: Sorry y'all that I haven't updated in ages. Busy with other fanfics and other stuff. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**_Something About You Something About You Something About You Something About You_**

Ulrich paused right outside of Yumi's front door. His knuckles were inches away from the wood, and now he was rethinking.

'_What happens if she I just get her madder? What if she get s so upset, we break up? What if I mess up or something—_

_Calm down, you're not going to mess up. Just rap your knuckles on the front door, and ask if you can talk to Yumi._

_But what if it is Yumi? What if she slams it in my face?_

_Than just knock again. Her parents will make her open it up and let you in or they'll open it theirselves.'_

Ulrich relaxed, and then firmly knocked on the door. Yumi's mother opened it up.

"Hello Ulrich."

"Hello Mrs. Isiyama (oops if I spelled that wrong). May I see Yumi?"

"Sure. She's in her room."

Ulrich walked up the staircase and towards Yumi's elegant bedroom. Her door was ajar, and he let himself in.

Yumi was sitting on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her head turned when she saw who it was. "Oh. Hi Ulrich," she said coldly.

"Look Yumi, I have something to tell you."

"Well make it quick, I have much better things to do with my time."

"Like reflect on your past actions, and regretting some of the things you did?"

Yumi's expression seemed to soften, and she whispered, "How do you know?"

"That's what I've been doing. But I realized that I had to take action. I know what I did was stupid, and childish. And you were right. But I don't want a misunderstanding breaking up our relationship."

Yumi blinked away tears for a moment, before giving in and letting them run down her face openly. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so mad and upset. It was stupid."

"We were both stupid."

"And, and I just want it in the past. Forgive and forget."

"God, cause that's the way I want it too."

Yumi sat up, wiped her tears away, and looked into Ulrich's eyes. Ulrich felt a warm flush creep up his faced, but he pushed it away.

"You know Ulrich, there's something about you that makes everything alright."

"And there's something about your smile that makes me feel happy too."

"Oh stop it, you're joking."

"I'm not!"

Yumi leaned closer to Ulrich. "Ulrich, there's something about us. Sometimes we seem like we'll be together forever, but other times we're just friends. What do you think?"

Ulrich felt that flush come up again. Yumi was too close, her head to close to his, her eyes inches away from his own eyes.

"Um, uh…," Ulrich stuttered, not knowing what to say.

Yumi only leaned closer. "Well, this is what I think."

She closed her eyes and leaned closer, her lips puckered. Ulrich had no clue what to do. He felt like she was once again too close, invading her privacy.

'_Her eyes are closed,'_ a voice in his head said, _'You can still make a run for it.'_

But another part of him knew what to do. He relaxed, closed his eyes, and leaned closer. The moment their lips touched Ulrich felt a strange tickling sensation. His eyelids fluttered open for a second, but closed almost immediately.

He enjoyed the moment he had with her. He had never had a moment like this, and had no clue if he had ever thought he could do this. School was the only place besides Lyoko he could do it, but that was in public. Even his dorm wouldn't be a private place with Kiwi and Odd hanging around.

As for Lyoko, there was too much to be done there. It had almost happened once, but Ulrich knew a moment like that would never come again. When Odd was either in the real world or looking the other way, and when Aelita was in a tower. Even then, they'd have limited time before they returned to the past.

Ulrich hesitated, but then wrapped his arms around her, and they both savored the moment when they could be themselves.

**_Something About You Something About You Something About You Something About You_**

A/N: Like it? I know I did! Please review and I'll update sooner! And wow, this is the first chapter that actually has a name that doesn't have Breakaway in it somewhere- sorinslayer4eva


	7. Aftershock

**A/N: Wow it's been a long time since I updated this story. Oh well ducks pitchforks of angry fans, just read and review. Any Teen Titans fans reading this, yes I did get the title from those two episodes. But this aftershock will be a lot more pleasant.**

_**Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock**_

The next day, Ulrich sat in shock, reviewing last night's events. He was seated on one of the benches, his elbow propped up on the armrests. His brown eyes stared across the campus, not really taking anything in. His reminiscing ended abruptly when another person sat down next to him.

"Hey Ulrich! Where were you at breakfast?" asked Odd curiously, glancing over his friend's shoulder to see what he was staring at.

"Busy."

"Alright, alright. Don't tell me and I'll still find out," boasted Odd.

Just then the gates to the campus opened and Yumi cheerfully walked in. She spotted them and waved before spotting a friend from another class and running off to chat with her.

"Why is Yumi so chummy with you again?" asked Odd. Ulrich's head had swiveled around to watch Yumi's conversation. His eyes were unusually wide, and when he tried to speak it came out in a low groan.

"What was that?"

Ulrich quickly recovered. "Nothing." His throat was dry, as all of the liquid was now running down his face as the form of sweat.

Odd examined him from behind. "You're acting just like Jeremie when Taelia showed up." He sat back and thought for a moment before he fell off of the bench in surprise.

"Did… you… did you… did you do what I think you did? Did you do it?" he asked. He was in such shock that he was having trouble stringing words together.

Ulrich, panicking, immediately responded, "No." Moments after that he realized he should have played stupid and asked what was he was talking about. He had just practically admitted to Odd's unspoken guess.

"You did!" Odd grinned, and began to do a weird victory dance. "Alright Ulrich! I knew you had it in you buddy. Now how was it? Give me the juicy details," he commanded, leaning over to stare at Ulrich's expression.

Ulrich was annoyed at Odd's reaction, and at the moment he didn't want to tell Odd anything. Yumi started to head towards them, making perfect timing.

"Later," he whispered. "I promised Yumi I wouldn't tell anything."

"Come on!"

"She's coming! Later."

"Fine."

"What are you guys so happy about?" asked Yumi.

Odd opened his mouth to speak, but Ulrich beat him to it. "He's just so happy that there's a big history test today." He winked at Yumi, who got the joke.

"Oh yeah! I stayed up all night studying. I don't even know if Jeremie will be able to ace it," Yumi replied somewhat casually.

"Speaking of Jeremie, where is he?" asked Odd, trying to get off of the subject. He was terribly nervous about the exam that he had forgotten.

"Probably studying for it."

"I'm gonna fail it! And if I fail another test, then Mom and Dad are making me move back home!" Odd cried in dismay.

At the same time, Yumi and Ulrich let out their fits of laughter. "You actually believed us?" asked Ulrich.

Odd was annoyed at them, and had irritated look on his face during their periods of laughter. "Ha, ha, ha, very funny," he replied sarcastically.

"Seriously, what were you guys so happy about before?" asked Yumi, now having recovered from the laughing.

"Oh that. We were… um… we had thought up of a new prank to pull on Sissy," Odd quickly made up.

"Cool? What's the plan?"

"Oh… we… we're, um… going to, uh… put a bunch of dead frogs in her locker from Chemistry. It works out perfectly since we go to our lockers after that class."

"When are you going to do it?"

"We haven't worked that out yet… since… since her locker is halfway across the school from the Chemistry room. Getting the frogs is easy; getting them into her locker is hard. We were… uh, thinking of putting them into a bag that isn't transparent, and then casually put them in there when she's preoccupied."

"Why were you so down Ulrich?" asked Yumi curiously.

"Because… because I'm the one who's going to have to distract Sissy while Odd gets them into the locker."

"Well I can't do it. She doesn't find me so attractive and such a teen heartthrob that's reserved only for herself. Unlike you." Odd changed his tone of voice to a high-pitched impression of Sissy's voice. Just then, an irritating voice came from across the schoolyard.

"Oh Ulrich? What I think of him Herb? Well I think he's so attractive and such a teen heartthrob that's only reserved for me."

At Sissy's uncanny resemblance to Odd's made-up sentence, the three of them started to laugh. Unfortunately, Sissy heard them and marched right over to see what was going on.

"What is so funny?" she demanded. Her two cronies Herb and Nicholas were right behind her, leering as best as they could.

"Nothing, oh stupid one."

"STUPID! Ulrich," she said turning to him, her tone completely changing, "tell your friend here to be quiet."

Odd looked at Ulrich, sniggering. "Oh yes Ulrich, tell me to be quiet."

"Why don't both of you shut up?" Ulrich was getting frustrated at Odd for getting him into most of this mess.

"Ulrich, I want you to know how I feel about you. For real," said Sissy.

"We've heard already."

"No you have not! If you have, then tell me."

"I'm so attractive… something about a heartthrob… blah, blah, blah. That's about it," Ulrich replied.

For some reason this made Sissy happy. "There was a lot more than that Ulrich! That proves that you didn't hear my speech."

"Either that or I just didn't listen."

Sissy scowled before stalking away, causing Herb and Nicholas to run after her. "Hey Sissy wait!" they cried.

At that moment the bell rang, causing Yumi to wave them off before sprinting to class. "Bye! Good luck with your plan!" she called over her shoulder as she hoisted up her back-pack and entered the school.

Once she was put of earshot, Ulrich turned to Odd and glared at him. "Oh thanks a lot Odd. Now we actually have to go through with it."

Odd blushed in embarrassment. "I didn't know that she actually would believe us!"

"She's our friend. Of course she was going to believe us!" Ulrich slapped his forehead in frustration. _'Wow he is stupid. At least this got him off the subject of me and Yumi,'_ thought Ulrich. "Well you better think up of something. And before fifth period."

But when he looked back at Odd, expecting a look of pure terror at having to think of something, he saw a look of unadulterated evil.

"I already have something." Odd grinned and rubbed his hands together. But before he could tell what he had planned, an annoying voice came from the front of the school. "Hey! You two! Get over here!" Jim was signaling to them. They reluctantly walked over to him.

"Did you know that class started 5 minutes ago?" Jim asked.

"Heh, heh, heh… Jim… I didn't know that you had first period off…" Odd said, blushing again.

"Yeah. I do every morning. Now get to your classes!"

Ulrich and Odd ran off towards the doors. "Wow, we actually go off without a punishment—" Odd started, but he was cut off.

"Oh yeah, detention for both of you!"

"Scratch that," muttered Ulrich. "Now, where were you?"

"Oh yeah. You know how Herb likes Sissy? Well this is what we're going to do…"

The bell for sixth period rang, and the Science class dismissed, everyone heading for their locker. Odd grabbed Ulrich, Jeremie, and Yumi, who had all been informed about the plan, and headed for the nearest corner to confirm the last details. Several kids noticed that Odd's book bag was… well there was a dead frog head sticking out of the top. Odd hastily pushed in back in.

"Okay, here comes Herb. Come on!" And Odd led the way out of the shadows and stopped Herb in his tracks.

"Come on Herb! We don't have time to talk to those losers. Well, except Ulrich." Sissy batted her eyelashes at Ulrich.

He eyed her as if she was crazy. "No way."

Sissy pouted before repeating, "Come on Herb!" and disappearing around the corner. Herb was about to follow, grumbling, when Odd asked, "Having Sissy problems?"

Herb was about to deny it, but as he opened his mouth, he shut it and looked at his knees. "Yeah. She won't give me any time to talk to her."

"Well we can help," replied Odd cheerfully.

Herb looked up, but when he spotted Ulrich, he said, "No way. I am not working with him." He pointed to Ulrich, an accusing look in his eyes. Ulrich was quite surprised at this.

"Ulrich doesn't like Sissy. And if we get her to like you, then she'll forget about him," pointed out Odd.

Herb shrugged.

Odd took that as accepting to their prank. "Okay, we'll do all of the work. Just stand around that corner and by the time Sissy walks around the corner, she'll be all yours."

Herb noticed Odd's bag. "What's with your backpack? It seems kinda lumpy."

"It's filled with perfume, make-up, and other girl stuff. (Yumi had to restrain a laugh, and hastily turned it into a cough) It's tied in. Okay," he said, turning to the others, "let's go."

They separated, Odd, Jeremie and Yumi following the hallway to Sissy's locker, Odd rushing ahead. Ulrich ran around the corner, where there was a shortcut through the boy's locker room window that led to the outside world. From there, he climbed through a window in a supply/janitor closet. Checking to make sure no one was watching, he crept out, walked around the corner to see Sissy putting some of her books in her locker.

"Hey Sissy," said Ulrich, faking a smile for the prank's sake.

"Oh hi Ulrich," she replied, a real smile spreading across her face. "Where are your friends?"

"Oh that doesn't matter," he lied. "So, I was wondering," he took her hand and lead her around the bend, "can we talk in private?"

"Sure." Sissy's heart was bursting with excitement, and it was as if all of her dreams had come true.

Ulrich took her to a spacious closet that was larger and cozier than most. "I'm having some issues in some subjects, and maybe we can study together sometime… let's say Friday?"

"Of course Ulrich. It's like a study date?"

"Not like a study date… a study date."

Sissy couldn't believe it… she felt sweat going down her forehead. She leaned up towards him…

Ulrich felt sweat running down his forehead too. Sissy was trying to kiss him… but he couldn't. Not when he had just kissed Yumi that last night. He couldn't do it… but yet he had to. If Odd got caught putting frogs in Sissy's locker, then he would have to go home. Playing a prank on the principal's daughter that included stealing dead frogs from the lab, would be worse. He hesitated, and then closed his eyes, not wanting to see what might happen…

Meanwhile, Odd ran to Sissy's open locker, scribbling a note on a sticky-note and stuffing it into the bag where the dead frogs were. Cramming the bag into the small locker, he shut it and joined his friends around the curve.

Minutes later, Sissy walked back to her locker. Her face was unreadable. Ulrich, however, looked sick. When she noticed that her locker had been shut, she muttered, "That's weird, I swore I left it open. Oh well." She opened it, only to have the bag of dead frogs spill onto her. She screamed and freaked out, jumping up and down in disgust. This caused her to crush some of them, sending frog guts flying, causing her to scream louder.

When she finally calmed down, Ulrich, who had walked over to his companions, who had emerged to watch, called, "Oh yeah Sissy? That 'date' isn't going to happen!"

The Lyoko gang laughed at Sissy's reaction to Ulrich's thousandth rejection. "You!" she spat, pointing at them, "You probably planed this!" She rummaged through the bag to retrieve the note.

"Ha!" she cried, holding up the crumpled piece of paper, laughing almost maniacally, "This piece of paper will probably prove my point!" She unwrinkled it, and furiously read it. Her jaw dropped when she saw whose name was on it.

'_To Sissy_

_-from Herb'_

She stomped around the corner. Herb was waiting for her. He was straightening his corner, looking quite smug. "Hello Sissy dear," he greeted her.

"Explain this!" she exclaimed, throwing a dead frog in his face. It fell into his hands. Gaping at it, he started to sputter.

"But… but I didn't do this!"

"Oh yes you did you little twerp. You are off my gang!"

"No! I did do this! Listen to me!"

Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi laughed again. Yumi was the first to stop. She glanced at Ulrich. "You know Ulrich, since we're talking again, do you want to go back to Lyoko?"

To everyone's relief, Ulrich replied, "Yes. And this time, I won't joke around."

_**Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock Aftershock**_

**A/N: To make more people review, I'm hosting a contest. Whoever reviews first will get a descriptive description of what happened in that closet… Put your e-mail address in the review. If you don't have one… then too bad. I know that's mean.. but I can't really tell you in an author note without letting anyone else know. Have fun reviewing!- sorinslayer4eva**


	8. Dark Wings

**A/N: At last, I have returned! I'm trying to work more on my stories since it's summer, although at the end, and yeah, I'll have more free time than I'll ever have for the rest of my life or something around that. So blah. The title is after a song I like. It kinda goes with the chapter; otherwise it wouldn't have been called that. And there's going to be somewhat of a plot twist that changes some of it.**

_**Dark Wings (they are descending) Dark Wings (they are descending) Dark Wings**_

Yumi beamed at Ulrich's response. She was about to lean over and kiss him on the cheek for being so mature, but then she remembered that everyone else was watching. She recovered quickly before adding, "It's just too bad it's Monday."

"Who cares?" replied Ulrich. "We can go now. It won't be hard. All we have left is lunch and Gym. And we can twist things up, so that Gym won't be possible."

"Aw man," groaned Odd. "I'm starved."

"Fine," laughed Yumi. "You and Jeremie to lunch, save us some food, and we'll take care of Jim."

Around the corner, Herb was sobbing dramatically into his hands. Sissy left him there to snivel and sob, while she decided to try and hit on Ulrich. Again. But as she was coming around the bend, she saw the gang split up. She made to follow Ulrich.

'_Even if Yumi's there, I can still charm him,'_ Sissy thought arrogantly. And as Odd and Jeremie passed her, a thought struck her. Yumi and Ulrich were heading in the opposite direction of the lunch room!

"It's time for Super Sneaky Spy Sissy, the Secret Sleuth, to check things out," she whispered softly.

"Hey Sissy, where are you going asked," Nicholas in the same dull, slow tone that made him resemble a troll.

"Silence! Supper Sneaky Spy Sissy, Secret Sleuth's so smashing secrecies, stupid!" cried Sissy, somehow dictating this sentence without taking a second breath.

"Nice nickname Sissy!" called Herb, momentarily forgetting his troubles. A kick from Nicholas reminded him.

"Don't speak to the High Supreme Sissy. You're too low, nerd."

"Aw man!"

Sissy stalked off towards Ulrich and Yumi. As she went, she whispered hints to herself. They were filled with nonsense, just like everything else she said.

"S.S.S.S.S. is sneaky. Be quiet! Or was it 6 S's?" she pondered as she slid across the lockers into shadows. Her targets were joking so loudly they couldn't hear her coming.

They took a left at the History room, and headed for the only place possible: the Gym. Sissy let out a soft sigh.

"Ooooo, they're so busted!" she squeaked in delight. But as they approached the door, Ulrich and Yumi rushed ahead. Sissy made to follow; to confront them before they made it to their location, but the door slammed in her face. She nearly cursed, if it wasn't the fact that someone could be watching.

"F- fiddlesticks!" she exclaimed. If she tried to open it up, it would make a terrible racket. She would have to wait.

"But why wait?" she asked to the silence. "Double-triple S takes action! She should go to Jim and alert him! (**A/N: It's so weird how the Gym teacher's name is Jim.**)"

"But no!" she cried. "What if they leave? I'll stay here and watch!"

Yumi and Ulrich ran into the Gym. They searched for a bit for anything that could help. Pulling out mats, putting the harnesses into the bathrooms, dumping the tennis rackets and balls into the pool, and whatever else. Yumi found several bottles of nail polish in the locker room, and they had fun smashing them against the walls.

At last they collapsed against a wall in exhaustion. A face at the door caught Ulrich's eye.

"Hey, it looks like the Frog Princess followed us!" he whispered. "I really don't want to get us into any more trouble, but we have to do something."

Yumi looked at him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Locker room and frame?"

"Oh yeah."

They stood up and pretended to go to the water fountains, which you couldn't see at the door, and then dramatically opened and closed the locker room doors, as if they had gone inside.

"Fools," whispered Sissy. She had been afraid that Ulrich had seen her, but he had simply kept on looking at the opposite wall. And now that they were in the Locker Rooms, she could creep in and hide in Jim's office.

Swinging open the door as softly as she could, Sissy tip-toed in across the old, creaky wooden floor, wincing every time a squeak echoed in the Gym. She only had to get past the Locker Rooms, and she'd be home free. Just as she was passing, two figures tackled her to the cold wood floor.

"Gotcha!" Ulrich cried triumphantly as they flattened their stalker to the ground.

Sissy glared up at them. "Double-triple S won't go down without a fight!" She tried to punch at Yumi's face, but the girl grabbed it and twisted the wrist without doing any real harm.

"Since when do people refer to themselves in third person view?" asked Yumi as they threw her into the Girl's Locker Room.

"Please can't you just force me into Jim's office?" whined Sissy. "It at least has a moldy couch! These benches are rock hard!"

"Nope," replied Ulrich. He snatched the key ring from Jim's office and locked it up. Tossing it back onto the desk, he glanced at the wall clock to see how much time they had left.

"Whoa! We only have 7 minutes left until the bell rings. Let's head back before someone sees us!"

They crept sneakily back to the lunchroom, where Jeremie and Odd congratulated them on a job well done. Odd cracked up especially when he heard about Sissy's fate.

"That's just great guys!" he exclaimed as Ulrich and Yumi scarfed down the rolls Jeremie had given to them. "Begging for Jim's sofa before the end, too bad they don't have security cameras in there!"

Ulrich and Yumi froze. The security cameras, which they had forgotten all about, would reveal what happened when the administrators checked them.

"Oh no," Odd groaned, seeing their expressions. "There _are_ security cameras in there?"

They nodded slowly, eyes still wide with shock.

Jeremie grinned. "No problem. I'll fix it up. I saw something like that in National Treasure (don't own that), checked it out, and it turns out to be accurate."

He grabbed his laptop from out of his bag. Laying it carefully on his lap, he logged it, and easily hacked into the school. The others watched amazed as Jeremie did wonders with the technology.

It didn't take long to replace the file with an old one, and they decided to watch what happened. When Ulrich and Yumi locked Sissy up, Odd wanted to save it to a disk and-

"Use it for blackmail, my fine fellow," replied Odd, answering Jeremie's question to why he would want it.

"No way," answered Yumi and Ulrich at the same time.

"If you send it to her, it's proof," hissed Ulrich.

"Yeah, and my parents would kill me if they found out," breathed Yumi.

And so Jeremie deleted the file, closed his laptop, and returned it to his bag. No one had overheard or seen them whispering suspiciously to each other.

"Hey Jeremie, why do you carry around your laptop to Gym Class?" asked Yumi.

"I like to be prepared if a Xana attack comes up, of course," Jeremie spoke far too quickly, and his cheeks flushed a deep shade of red.

"That's not it, is it?" asked Ulrich, an evil grin spreading on his face.

The bell rang, and Jeremie continued on the way there. "You see, back then when I was so close to cracking the devirtualization problem, I used to describe what things were like. I'd sneak into a stall and tell her how stinky it was in there. And when I realized it would be a while, I decided to just talk to her, and sometimes we got carried away."

"So that's why you were never on time!" exclaimed Odd.

"Exactly. And to tell you the truth, it feels a bit better to get that off my chest. I was so afraid someone, especially you or Ulrich, would walk in on me, and tease me about it."

"Good idea Einstein. Ya know, my cousin owns a T-shirt customizing shop. I could probably get a shirt that says 'I Love a Computer Program' for you."

Jeremie spun around, eyes blazing. "She's not just a computer program! She's a real person, with thoughts and feelings about the world! And you shouldn't be joking about that since she's gone!"

The Lyoko gang worried for a moment that tensions would rise again, but then Jeremie sighed and apologized. "Sorry Odd. I'm just a bit stressed. But if you can change that shirt to 'I Love Aelita', now that would work."

So it was in a merry mood that they entered the gym to see it destroyed. They gasped convincingly like all the others, especially Odd and Jeremie. Seeing it from a scratchy security tape was something, actually seeing it was another thing.

"What's going on, peo- augh! What happened?" Jim had been coming up from the rear when he saw his beloved gym ruined. He walked to the front, dumbfounded, and then spun around to glare at the students.

"Now which one of you twerps did this to the gym!" he roared, and everyone cowered back in fear. After examining each kid's face, he drew back. None of them looked guilty.

Suddenly a teenager from the back walked through the crowd. "I say we do a forensic search! Look for fingerprints, footprints, and any trace elements!"

Everyone rolled their eyes. "Come on Carl," said some, while others just sighed loudly and obviously. Carl glared at them before Jim spoke.

"I think it's a great idea! Split up, all of you!"

And so they looked around, searching for anything that might give away the suspect. Reports of random items in random places kept one coming up, but nothing happened until a girl and her friends found a foot print near the locker room doors.

All of them surrounded the scene and gazed at it. The footprint was barely visible, since it had been smudged and made with nail polish. Jim reached out to open the boy's locker room, and slipped it. Nothing was suspicious, save some equipment. When he went to the girl's, it wouldn't open.

"Stupid thing won't budge," he muttered, and grabbed the keys and unlocked it. And there he saw Sissy, sitting on the bench, looking distinctively annoyed.

"Sissy!" cried Jim. "Did you do this?"

"No, of course I didn't! Don't be silly, it was her!" she pointed at Yumi.

Yumi looked surprise and upset. "But why would I do it!"

"I saw you!" spat Sissy. "This case is closed. I'm off to put on some nail polish… hey, it's all gone!"

"Aha!" cried Jim. Who he was referring to, no one knew.

"But why would I do this?" asked Yumi, trying to act innocent.

"She has a point," agreed Jim. "She has no motive. Yumi's almost the best gym student here. Where Sissy, on the other hand, is failing this class."

Sissy gasped and dropped her purse with a large clunk. She tried to speak, but all she got out was stutters. Finally, her tongue worked.

"I'll have you know Jim; you're accusing an innocent bystander in this."

"Accusing, yes. Innocent, no. Starting tomorrow, you're having a month's detention. It's not going to be hard to put away the equipment, but that nail polish with be tough to scrub. You'll be spending all your afternoons until 7 here, scrubbing. And that means lunch too!

'Until the month is over, you can't leave. If you finish before then, you'll spend it in the library, studying. If it takes longer, let it!

'Since _someone_ has destroyed the gym room, you get a free period. Spend it wisely, and if I see any of you misbehaving, you can join your friend here!"

The gang left for the door, and Yumi winked at Sissy as she went by. Sissy blood's started to boil, and she saw red. Leaping out, she was ready to fasten her fingers around Yumi's slim neck and choke her until she died or confessed when she suddenly stopped. Her eyes became blank, and her mind was wiped of all thoughts.

"Heh heh heh, have fun," said Sissy, smiling.

When they left the room, Yumi spoke first. "That was weird."

Jeremie spoke next. "You're lucky she got to her senses. She really could have hurt you."

"She probably remembered that Jim was watching," agreed Odd.

"Besides, whoever heard of her hurting me?"

But Yumi's voice was high and shrill. She looked out of the windows for the rest of the walk, and Ulrich glanced concerned at her. If Sissy had been able to actually hurt Yumi… well he didn't want to think about it.

As they got closer to the school's doors, Yumi began to look cheerful again. Their pace quickened, and by the time they had burst through the doors they were at a sprint. Dodging the branches and bushes, they feet led them instinctively to the sewer grate.

Ulrich jerked it out of the way and simply leaped it, forgetting the handlebars. Yumi followed, and then Odd and Jeremie, who closed the grate so that no one could tell they'd been there.

Ulrich landed in a graceful crouch, and immediately leaped on his skateboard, recklessly speeding along the sidewalk. A moment later, Yumi's skateboard was right next to his, matching him move for move. As Odd prepared to follow, Jeremie asked a question he had been trying to hold back.

"Um, Odd, do you think I could, maybe… try out your skateboard?" he let out nervously.

"Jeremie, we don't want the chances of you falling and breaking your neck or drowning in the sewer water."

"But the water's only a foot de-"

"Exactly."

But seeing the depressed look on Jeremie's face, Odd promised, "If we get out of this okay, then I teach you how. Besides, this isn't really the best time."

Jeremie nodded, and then started out on his scooter. Odd streaked past him a second later. His words came back to the techno-geek… would they be okay? Aelita had been an important part of their lives, and if things didn't turn out well, they may have to close down the factory. Forever…

It took little time to arrive at the factory, and soon Jeremie was sitting down at the computer chair, logging in and preparing the scanners. He was like Beethoven, but with a keyboard. Grabbing the headset from next to the screen, he put it on and spoke into it.

"Okay guys. Get ready to go."

Without any more persuasion, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich stepped into the scanners. Closing their eyes, they prepared for the remarkable sensations that would meet them in mere moments.

Transferring to Lyoko was like nothing else. You knew it was coming when the air pushed against your face and pulled your hair skyward; but then came the flashing light that set them off.

You would drop for what seemed like a very long time, but it went very slowly and it was almost as if you weren't moving at all, or obeying the laws of physics. And soon you begin to think it will never end, something went wrong and you're stuck in this position when you begin to fall up.

This was probably the oddest part of the journey. It's like going on a small bump on a smooth roller coaster; your heart gets stuck in your throat and you can't help but feel excitement and delight even in the worst of times. And that was usually what happened with Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi.

Finally you would feel a tingling sensation, and then a plunge. Instinctively you hold out your arms to try and break it, but the Lyoko gang was so used to this they can land on two feet, unlike most people if they ever tried.

And so Jeremie said, "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi."

And so they felt the swooping of their stomachs and landed in Lyoko.

A solitary figure walked across the bridge to an abandoned factory. The person was neither short, nor tall, and certainly not wide or muscular. In fact it resembled an ordinary teenaged girl.

They moved at a fast stride, and entered the factory in a great haste. Stairs were to its left and right; but there was no time to waste on such inferior things. Ropes were ahead; they could use those. Confidently they grabbed the first one and tried to swing down. Their tight hold slipped, and they plunged towards the concrete floor.

**Curses! This body is not fit for such abilities. Why did not I take the girl?**

And so thought Xana. He had taken over Sissy's mind quite easily, and so that is what he had done in the gym. In fact he had been floating right near them, by the outlet in the wall. For Xana was not of a human shape; he was made of shadow and fog, and was no solid so that he could stand.

He was in the form of a tall, lean being, with deadly claws if they could pierce flesh. All that they could really do is make a person sick or ill, if swiped in the right place. The worst was if they were hit in the head, a coma would come to them for a week or two. He had no legs, just a stereotype curl at the end. Burning eyes to anyone who made eye contact, but these would just make a person feel light-headed. It was a surprise no one had noticed him there.

Anyway, he had been prepared to corrupt Yumi, which explains the strange actions of Sissy. She had jumped in the way, and Xana did not know it was not his target until it was too late. When he had found out he had taken the body of an imprisoned, innocent girl, he had struck the captor hard and took off. The human man's face had been filled with fear; he had not known that Sissy was not herself, and he had also seen the eye of Xana upon her forehead, along with blank, pupil-less eyes.

But the body showed its purpose; it could easily follow them since after racking her mind, he had found out that the girl had a motive to. What disgusted him is that she was attracted to one of his nemesis. But it was no time to worry about foolish teenage crushes. He had business to do.

Yumi landed last, and joined Ulrich and Odd. All together they ran out on the path in the desert region. It was almost like being toddlers again. They scampered around, and tested out their weapons. Ulrich nearly slew Odd once, and Yumi did the same and almost severed his neck with her metal fan.

And then they came to a dead end, and their spirits died. There was a bad aura around the place, and it would have sent shivers up their spines if they had the option of being able to feel in here.

"Okay, according to my readings this is where Aelita… where it happened. Investigate and see if anything's weird."

Yumi examined the smooth surface of the road, trying to find anything that may help. Ulrich looked over the sides to see if there were any signs if she fell off the side. And Odd latched his claws onto the wall and crawled up there.

There was no clue of anything until a few minutes after their order.

Sissy did not have to try hard to find what she was looking for. Xana's plan was to take over the robots the gang had made and use them to cause chaos, but the batteries had died out. And no student had the specific brand of them in their lockers or anywhere else. And all the cabinets that the teachers may have had them in were locked.

But the factory was his domain, and no one knew it better than perhaps the children who faced him. And those batteries had been stolen from right under his nose, but there was a larger stock farther off. After going through the labyrinth of hallways and tunnels, she arrived to their destination. A handful of batteries tucked in her purse were all that he needed before forcing her to go back to the school. His plan was ready to be taken out.

"Hey guys! I found something!"

The boys crowded around the space Yumi was examining. They gasped at it. If she hadn't noticed it, none of them would have.

"Give me a visual," commanded Jeremie.

Yumi closed her eyes and mentally sent a picture of what they were looking at to Jeremie. A window came up on the screen, and Jeremie saw that there were many small indents in the path.

"Roachers," he snarled. It was no accident. Xana must have sent them without activating a tower. Usually the pulsations and the dark feeling of the activated tower, with some of Xana's malice, created the beasts.

"And there's something else, over here by this rock!" Ulrich was crouched down, looking at a drop of moisture right next to an orange chunk of soil.

"That's odd," agreed Yumi. There was no moisture in Lyoko, no real water. What could have possibly made this?

But their answer was cut short. Odd's sharp cat ears picked up a pounding of drums. And the ground began to shake slightly with the tension.

"Jeremie, I think Xana's launched an attack!" he cried in dismay.

Just then, another window popped up. It was a live news bulletin, and a blonde news reporter began to speak.

"At a local boarding school, several of the students have started to attack others and the building. Already some of the school is on fire, and several students are severely injured. So far nothing very damaging has happened, but if something doesn't happen soon there will be."

Jeremie closed out of it and spoke into the speaker. "Guys, you have to get to that tower. It's in the mountain region. There's a deactivated tower nearby, get to that."

The next moment he spoke again. "Wait! There are half a dozen roachers coming your way! Be prepared!"

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi got ready. Odd locked in his arrows, Ulrich unsheathed his sword, and Yumi pulled out her fan. They walked slowly towards the fork in the path, ready for the roachers to appear any moment.

A red blast was suddenly shot at them. It was heading towards Odd, and he was knocked backwards. The roachers came into view and faced them. 3 on each side.

Yumi and Ulrich charged forward with a yell, and faced off with two of them. Ulrich ran at one, and even at his brilliant speed he wouldn't be able to strike the monster before it hit him. But he ignored probability, and was preparing to slash it down its center.

The blast came before he was ready. A figure suddenly knocked him to the ground, and the beam passed over him and Yumi only by a few inches. Yumi jerked out her wrist, and the roacher was ripped in half by her fan.

It sped back to her, and Yumi used it as a shield while she and Ulrich got up. Ulrich managed to kill one of the foul beasts, and deflected many blasts with his samurai sword.

Odd was more careful, and had to leap around for a bit to avoid the attacks, since he had no shield of his own. Finally he shot two laser arrows, and managed to kill one. The next three missed, but he still hadn't been hit except for the first time.

Jeremie gulped into the speaker, and Odd asked what was the matter.

"We have two crabs coming our way."

And then they saw them coming from the horizon, two large, towering crabs stumbled into view. They seemed oddly unbalanced compared to the roachers, but their power was much greater. Already they were charging up for a big shot…

Yumi threw her fan into the air, and blocked the ray that had been fired towards them. She caught it was ease and then started to use her telekinesis. Several large rocks were raised into the air and created a shield around them, so that they could discuss their options. They were all weak, and needed some time to plan.

"So, what should we do?" voiced Ulrich.

"I'll distract them the roachers. Laser arrows aren't much good against crabs," replied Odd.

Yumi stayed silent. She was nervously eyeing the cracks that were forming in the rocks, and soon the shield would be destroyed.

"Yumi?"

"Okay, let's do it."

And then the shield shattered, making the perfect timing. Odd shot several laser arrows in the chaos, and some how hit one as it was coming through the smoke.

Yumi and Ulrich leaped over the smaller monsters, and landed right in front of the crabs. They moved like figure skaters, desperately trying to dodge the many blows that were coming their way.

Finally Ulrich leaped into the air and forced his sword down into the crab unexpectedly. It stuttered around for a bit, and Ulrich tried to jerk his sword out. He was now panicking, any minute now it would-

_BOOM!_ The crab self destructed, and Ulrich was flung backwards back towards Odd. He had finished up the roachers with 5 laser arrows left, and 40 life points. Ulrich slammed into him, and seemed to be unconscious.

"Ulrich!"

Yumi came from behind the crab, and threw her metal fan into it. It too exploded, and after reclaiming her weapon, she rushed to her friend's side.

Sure enough, he would not wake up. Yumi wanted to shake him, to scream in his face for him to wake up, anything. But all she could do is ask a question on her mind.

"How many life points does he have left?"

"20. You better get him to the tower; he may be able to recover some of them."

Odd and Yumi dragged the unconscious warrior all the way to the fork. They had to rest for a moment, before squinting through what seemed to be fog to see which path to take. As it cleared up, Odd noticed that the tower was to their left.

"Onward!" he cried, and they continued to drag him until they arrived.

Clearing their minds of all expression, they managed to lug him in. They closed their eyes, and tried to sleep, although it was impossible to.

Minutes crawled by, and finally Ulrich awoke.

"Ugh, what happened?" he asked. He felt queasy, and pain shot through his chest area, as if there were needles sinking into his flesh that would after a few seconds come out and dig themselves into a different area.

"Finally!" exclaimed Odd. They all stood up, and looked to the top of the tower. "Hey Einstein, how much life points have we got?"

"Odd, you have 70, Ulrich has 50, and Yumi has 80. You guys have to be careful, there are bound to be more monsters coming to stop you. Now get ready to go to the Mountain region."

All of them walked to the edge of the floating platform. They leaped off, and a numbness over took them. When they had opened their eyes, their feet touched the next platform, and they landed.

They ran through the tower, and started to run down the path. They feared whatever may be happening in the real world, and now needed to move faster than ever.

"Okay, the activated tower isn't too far away. Keep running, and you'll be able to find it. I'll keep you up- oh…"

"What is it?" asked Ulrich.

"You're facing an army here. Three mega blocks, 5 blocks, 7 hornets, and a whole lot of roachers…"

"How wonderful! Got any more good news?"

"Yeah. I'm going to see if I can refill your arrow supply. Give me a sec."

They rounded the corner, and saw a horrible sight. In front of them, between a glowing red tower, was truly an army of monsters. They spent a moment gaping at it, before their eyes narrowed and they focused on their goal.

"Let's do this," said Ulrich, and ran forward, sword at the ready.

The monsters responded, and ran forward too. Odd fired an arrow and a roacher burst into pieces. Luckily, another one of them had been right next to it, and due to that fact, it exploded too.

Yumi aimed for a block. It had a blue aura surrounding it, and shot blue beams instead of red ones. She ducked and strafed, avoiding all of the ice rays. When she was a couple feet in front of it, she leaped onto it.

Blocks nor roachers can change the height of their shot, and so could not get at Yumi. She hurled her fan at several of the hornets, and one was it. Like a boomerang, it returned to her.

The blocks and hornets could sense Yumi's location. They shuffled around, trying to get at a better angle, and then shot. Six in all came flying towards Yumi's steed, and just before they hit, she leaped from one to another, and avoided being hurt like Ulrich had been. The moment she landed, she would throw her fan into the air, and try to kill a hornet, before catching it, and flying to another block.

Since Odd had the roachers, Yumi had the blocks and hornets, Ulrich decided to deal with the last enemy. While he couldn't face hornets, Odd couldn't face crabs, and Yumi could face mega blocks, these were the right target for him.

"Triplicate!" he cried, and two more of him were forced from his sides to join him. Each one faced off against a mega block. There was a silence before they all charged.

The first clone died quickly. A mega block aimed, and fired just as Ulrich #2 leaped into the air to land on it. Two were left to battle three.

Odd shot his last arrow, and a hornet collapsed onto the ground, dead. But there were at least ten more, and he was completely out of weapons. All seemed lost, and he dodged around the corner to hide. It wasn't like him to run, but it would be difficult to win with nothing to protect himself.

Picking up a smooth rock, he raced around the corner, and made a fast throw. The large pebble collided with one of the roachers. It blew up, and Odd ran back again. Finding another rock, he smiled. It may seem like a weak technique, but at least he had one.

Yumi leaped off the current block she was standing on, threw her fan at the hornet that had fired, and landed on the ground. The weapon got stuck in it, and when it self destructed, it returned like a loyal dog to her side.

Two hornets buzzed around in the air. They had been the only ones who had survived Yumi's strategy, but not for long. The next moment, one was gone. The same fate happened to the next one, and now Yumi focused on the hornets. She noticed Odd, trying to kill them off, but was having little success. After a while, when he hadn't come back from around the corner, the remaining 7 roachers marched after him.

Yumi followed, and killed one off. Another observed the destruction of its comrade, and unexpectedly fired at Yumi. She was knocked backwards off her feet, and lay still before managing to get to her feet. Blocking a few more shots, she scrambled onto the large rocks that surrounded the path, and climbed catlike over them.

She gasped at the sight. Odd had been cornered, and was now about to be shot at by the roachers. At the last moment, she dived down and protected both of them from the attacks.

"Thanks a lot Yumi."

"Don't mention it. Hey Jeremie, can you refill Odd's supply? He's all out!"

"Give me a couple more seconds, I can't do everything!" Jeremie cried from the computer. His fingers were dancing across the keyboard, and his forehead was covered in sweat. "I have to test something out, and I don't know… yes, got it! Refilling arrow supply… All done!"

Odd immediately leaned out from behind Yumi's fan and shot three arrows at the roachers. Two of them were destroyed.

It didn't take long to finish them out. They were hit only once each by the end, and then they rushed to assist Ulrich.

He was not fairing so well. All of the clones had been destroyed. The second had gone down in a valiant fight, almost log-rolling on its mega block before the monster had made an unexpected jerk, and the clone had gone flying off the path.

Now all of the mega blocks focused on Ulrich. Each one of them charged up, and fired. Their three separate beams created one huge one, and went speeding towards him. Diving out of the way at the last moment, he held on for one more minute,

"Hiya!" Odd came flying towards the one on the right, leaping like a cat. He sprang onto the open, weak part of the mega block and was going to fire an arrow when it started to charge up. He flipped backwards off, and the blast went soaring into the sky.

The mega block adjusted itself, and closed up. It rolled around to get a better shot, where it could hit both of the boys. Odd ran forward, and shot an arrow.

"Laser arrow!" he shouted, but the arrow hit the hard armor and had no effect.

He tried again, but instead Odd leaped onto it. Firing an arrow, the half cat, half boy sprang off, not wanting to be in the middle of the monster's downfall. The creature rolled backwards along the open area before exploding.

Ulrich dodged another ray of power from the two mega blocks. He then decided to aim for the one in the middle. With his sword prepared for a fight, he sprinted forward. With super human speed, he strafed back and forth in order to confuse the mega blocks so they couldn't fire.

Samurai sword glinting in the sunlight, it prepared to bite into the mega block. In one swift, smooth movement, Ulrich leaped onto the open mega block, jammed his sword in, and then leaped off. It too exploded, and now one remained.

Suddenly a giant rock rushed by Ulrich's head, missing him by inches. It flew to his left, and collided hard with the remaining mega block. The enormous creature was forced off the path, and went flying down into the abyss below.

Ulrich turned around to see Yumi. She was smiling weakly, and had trouble standing. He rushed to her side and supported her. Together, they rejoined Odd, and all of them stumbled towards the entrance of the activated tower.

"Well you've guys made it this far. Now just to figure out how to deactivate the tower," Jeremie said into the speaker.

"Yeah. Do you think one of us could do it?" asked Ulrich.

"Maybe. We just have to see."

Just as they were about to step into the tower, something flashed into Odd's head. It was in shades of brown, and there was Aelita, laughing at something.

'_No, it can't be possible. She's dead…,'_ thought Odd, and he pushed it into the back of his mind to rot.

He joined his friends inside the tower, and as they stepped to the center of the eye, it started to glow.

"What's going on?" asked Yumi, who could now stand.

"I don't know…"

And then all three of them rose into the air. Another platform was above them, and they landed on it safely. A screen popped up in front of them. There was a faint outline of a handprint on it.

"Do you suppose we should each try it?" asked Ulrich. Odd and Yumi nodded.

Ulrich tried first, and his was a fail. It was the same with Yumi, and Odd's too. They glared at the screen for a bit, before an idea struck each of them. All of them placed their hand onto an area of the screen. The two on the left and right zoomed together with the middle and the word 'AELITA' appeared over it.

The message vanished, and the word 'CODE:' replaced it.

"Let's all focus on the word Lyoko. If all of out hand prints together did it, then all of our minds together can do it," said Ulrich. All of them closed their eyes, and focused on the word 'Lyoko'. But then the vision popped up again in Odd's head, and for one moment, he lost concentration.

The tower started to rumble and shake. All of their eyes snapped open, and looked around. And then, without warning, a scarlet beam shot down from the top of the tower, and struck them.

Their bodies were surrounded with the red light, and horrible pain spread through them. Their eyes were shut in pain, and they were lifted into the air.

And all Jeremie could do is watch while his friends were being obliterated.

_**Dark Wings (they are descending) Dark Wings (they are descending) Dark Wings**_

**A/N: All done! Been working on this all week, and finally finished the chapter. If any of you are confused about the gym, sorry, but when I tried to upload this, the lines I used to make it got demented, and didn't show up. I'll try to describle it: It is recangular shaped, with the bottom and the top side larger than the sides. On the bottom of the left side is the door. Towards the top of it is the boy's and girl's locker rooms. There is a little mini indent in the wall after that, and in there is water fountain. Where the indent ends, along the top side, is Jim's office, and inside that is a supply closet. On the right side wall, only a little down, is the door to outside. And on the bottom side, a little in from the corner of it and the right side wall, is the hallway to the pool. Sorry if some of you are still confused, but I tried,  
**

**And there's going to be a contest!**

**Contest Rules**

**Okay, I need a design for Jeremie's outfit when he goes into Lyoko. Shirt, pants/shorts, shoes, and what his weapon would be. The winner has their entry in the story, and also gets a special mini chapter about what happened to Aelita. The losers find out, but in two chapters, 'cause she will be returning.**

**Also, I have counted my chapters and there will be 4 or so left. All of them will be pretty long, so don't worry. Okay, be good people and review now!-sorinslayer4eva**


	9. Returning to Face the World

**A/N: At long last, I have returned! And the winner for my contest is Kgmck-117! Sorry supremecmdr.ofthenet, but I had already typed his up before I got your e-mail. I was just about to upload when I read my inbox. Sorry again! For Kgmck-117, I'll be sending the prize shortly, after I type this up!**

_**Returning to Face the World Returning to Face the World, Returning to face the**_

A drop of sweat streamed down Jeremie's face, dropping off at his chin to hit a fold in his turquoise shirt. His olive green (just making that up) eyes were blank, merely reflecting the computer screen. Pale hands shook, knuckles white from gripping onto the armrests of the chair.

It seemed hopeless; there was nothing left to do. All thought of the materialization program was erased from Jeremie's mind, an attack like this would kill his friends, and then he'd be all alone.

No one to protect him from the snarling bullies that would leave him covered in blood at the end of the day, no one to smile at, no one to share moments with. All alone, just like before.

His friends had never once needed him. He always depended on them to help, to support him. Ever since that first day when Yumi had told the older boy to knock it off, Jeremie had always needed them more than they needed him. He was worthless, like an old forgotten toy that had ran out of batteries.

But now they needed him. Jeremie had always dreamed of something like this, where he, the small, skinny, freaky little boy would save his strong friends. But it was nothing like this. Nothing so astonishing, so unreal had ever crossed his mind.

And now Jeremie sat there, watching his friend's life points tick down, wasting time. Only one thought came to his mind: the scanners.

There was only one time that he had gone into the scanners before. But Aelita had been there to encourage him, and now she was gone. Jeremie thought of any other possibilities, but none were possible. At least, without the scanners.

So Jeremie's fingers began to type, come back to life as they skittered across the keyboard. He accessed data, brought up deleted memory files, learned and prepared for what was coming.

Finally he pushed back his chair and bolted for the elevator. Jamming the button in, Jeremie waited for the machine to go down a level. The doors burst open and he ran into the room. A single scanner was open for him, waiting to engulf him.

He hesitated for a moment. But the thought of his friends persuaded him to go on. Leaping into the scanner, Jeremie felt a slight tingling sensation come over him. Adrenaline pumped in his veins, but it was no time to back down.

The simulation started, and the wind began to blow Jeremie's blond hair skyward. His glasses began to slip off his nose, and he had to grab them before they were lost in the transfer. And then it all went dark.

Jeremie collided with the ground, his shoulder smashing into the dusty beige path. He winced at the shock of his landing, and then rose to his feet, dusting off whatever may have stuck to him.

He took a moment to examine what he looked like. Everyone's appearance's changed when they went to Lyoko, and his was no exception.

Indigo, almost black baggy jeans nearly concealed dark boots, although light in weight (but he wouldn't know would he? They can't feel in Lyoko). An emerald green jumper (sweater) covered his top half, and an onyx waistcoat clung to his shoulders. Taking off his glasses, Jeremie admired the sleek, silver frames of the tinted glass.

But each moment he wasted, another life point would be lost. Gathering up his energy, Jeremie sped off towards the tower.

'_According to my settings, I shouldn't be far from the tower,'_ Jeremie thought as his feet pounded into the road.

It was amazing the transformation he had gone through. Before, Jeremie had been the slowest kid in the school, but now he was reaching speeds that not ever the best sprinters had reached.

Rounding a corner, Jeremie saw in the distance the great tower. But it was like nothing he had ever seen. All the descriptions of activated or deactivated towers were not ever close to this. A black aura surrounded it, and it seemed to vibrate with power. There wasn't much time left.

His legs moved faster, his stride longer. When he was a few meters away, the boy genius remembered Aelita's memory files, her knowledge. Holding out his hands, he strained for a moment, feeling an incredible power sliding from his shoulders to his hands.

A bright blue blast rocketed out of his palms, growing larger as it went. It swallowed the tower, purifying it.

Jeremie's eyes were shut in concentration, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep it up. In fact, he was surprised he was even able to access this kind of power. It had nothing to do with the situation, or the way he felt. It was just a one-time thing, and after this he would never be able to do it again.

At last he collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat. When he opened his eyes, to his great amazement he saw that the tower now had a pearly blue aura. Then the thought of his friends came to him, and he crawled towards the towering structure.

He closed his eyes when he dived through. One had to be in a state of true calm in order to enter a tower. When they reopened, a smile came to Jeremie's exhausted face.

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were laying on the floor of the tower. They were all knocked out from the tower's attack, but none of them had lost all of their life points. Then black came to Jeremie's vision, and he saw no more.

"Jeremie? Jeremie?"

Jeremie awoke, groggy from the sleep. Ulrich was staring anxiously at him, filled with concern. When he noticed that Jeremie had shifted his position, he grinned.

"You're alright!" exclaimed Ulrich.

"Nice going Einstein!" Odd yelled, nearly hitting Jeremie. "You had us all worried!"

Yumi simply smiled.

"I wish we knew how many life points we had left," Jeremie whispered. His throat was dry, and he was still weak from the enormous effort he had recently made.

"We'll just have to guess as always. Which reminds me," Odd said, turning Jeremie, "how'd you save us?"

Jeremie shrugged, actually being more confused than his friends at this matter. He tried to stand up, but stumbled. Immediately Yumi and Ulrich rushed to his side to support him.

Odd's tail flicked the air, aimlessly dancing around. At last the owner of the purple tail stood up and said, "Let's get out of here. Jeremie has to reset the go-back-in-time-thing so none of this ever happened. So, who shall have the honor of slicing him in half?"

But as they stumbled outside, an army met them. Hornets, blocks, crabs, roachers, and even mega blocks were lined up, ready to attack.

"Get back in the tower!" cried Yumi. Shot after shot headed towards them, glowing red with Xana's fury.

Odd carried Jeremie back to the safety of the tower while Yumi and Ulrich protected them from the blasts. They slowly backed up until they dived backwards into the tower.

Almost directly after they had gone inside, the tower began to shake and tremble. The Lyoko gang stared nervously at the walls of the tower, expecting them to collapse any moment now.

"The tower's not going to make it!" cried Yumi in distress.

As if it had been cued, a crimson glowing beam shot through the tower as if it didn't exist. They all ducked down to hide from the monster's attacks.

There was no choice but to fight. All together, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi charged out of the tower, screaming their odd war cry. Odd instantly shot off two arrows, since his stock had risen with his life points. Each one hit a roacher, and they blew up.

The other creatures ignored this, and kept on shooting. Yumi and Ulrich went into the defense, reflecting the beams, while Jeremie simply dodged them.

One beam came flying towards him, and Jeremie cringed, expecting to be blown off Lyoko. But no such thing happened, as the beam was mirrored back to the crab.

Jeremie was knocked back a meter, but the crab was destroyed instantly. Amazed at his sudden talent, Jeremie stared wide-eyed at where the stumbling thing used to be. Taking off his sun glasses, he examined them.

A sharp edge was near the ear rest, like a sickle. If the others could smash through monsters with their weapons, why couldn't he?

He raced past Ulrich and Yumi, a blur to their eyes. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, and finally he leaped over the hornets and blocks to land on another crab. Raising his left hand high in the air, he slammed it down and cut through it with the sunglasses.

A shining white light streamed from the cut, and Jeremie leaped backwards off the creature to land on his feet just as the explosion came.

"Nice job Jeremie, you're getting the hang of things," Odd congratulated him as both ducked to avoid losing life points.

But then a second shot came, and Odd was knocked backwards off his feet by the impact. White electricity sparked around where the attack had hit him, and the teenager groaned in pain.

Yumi held up her arm as she received the metal fan. It was the downfall of a hornet, and soon she prepared it to take another monster's life. Jerking out her wrist, she let the fan fly into another hornet, where it burrowed deep enough to be fatal.

Ulrich stood beside her, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. His eyes darted back and forth, his weight shifting from foot to foot, the samurai sword drenched in sweat.

Without warning, he leaped into the air, sliding sideways. Bringing his arms back behind his head, he slashed at a crab. The beast attempted to lumber out of the way in order to escape, but even as it moved Ulrich came crashing down.

The sharp noise of metal hitting metal rang through the air as he hit one of the many legs. It twitched horribly and collapsed, forcing the crab to bend down. The brown-haired teenager took this to his advantage, and attacked again.

"Impact!" he shouted as he forced his weapon into the Xana eye on the crab's back.

Immediately the creature exploded, and debris flew everywhere before disappearing into nothingness. Ulrich avoided the full blast by kicking off it. As he spun through the air, he sheathed his sword in order to land properly.

His firm hands slammed into the dirt, where they propelled him to land on his back. Ulrich flipped up, and pulled out his shield of a sword in front of his face just in time to avoid a hornet attack.

Odd meanwhile pranced back and forth, mocking the monsters of Xana by dodging every blow. But he had to then leap behind a large rock to avoid a beam from the army. Holding his right wrist in the air in front of him, the half cat locked and loaded his arrows. Daring to take a look from his hiding spot, he noticed a block in his aim. Not knowing how many arrows he had left, Odd whipped around and only shot one at it.

The block never saw it coming. That single laser arrow struck its weak spot, and it only took a moment for the weapon's ability to take effect.

"Yeah!" cheered Odd.

Inspired by his success, he leaped on top of his hiding spot. The purple tail attacked to his back side flicked the air, moving back and forth like a snake on the move. A hornet aimed for him, and Odd leaped onto another stone to barely miss the ray. Green and black lines appeared where the attack had hit.

Using his claws to climb sideways, he continued to sneak around and shoot to his heart's delight. Odd was leaping from one stone to the next when time seemed to stop. Halfway there, he grinned, thinking that he'd make it easily. But an unexpected attack from the side sent him flying towards the edge of the path. A horrified expression came to the boy's face, knowing that he wouldn't be able to recover in time.

Just as he was falling over the edge, a strong hand grabbed his. Looking up, Odd saw Jeremie beaming at him. Suddenly, the smile slipped, and a look of strain came over the genius' face. He didn't know if he could hold on much longer.

Odd looked around for alternate solutions. Looking below, he noticed that there was another path a little behind him. He knew it would be difficult, but it was his only option.

"I'm gonna try and swing over to that path," Odd shouted over the noise. His head gestured to his destination.

Jeremie grew pale. "How?" he gasped.

The struggling teenager smiled. "I'll find a way."

And with that, Odd forced his feet up, and kicked off the trail, letting go of Jeremie's hand as he did. His head titled backwards, watching the space below him, praying that his efforts had been enough.

"Ugh!" he cried as his shoulder made contact with the mountain road. Wincing as he got up, Odd scanned his surroundings for a way to get back up. His eyes narrowed on his only choice: a treacherous climb up the steep supports of the track where the battle was taking place. It was just a matter of getting there.

A familiar sound got louder, and Odd turned to stare at a group of roachers that had come to meet him. Smirking at the creatures, he prepared to jump.

Jeremie stumbled as he was nearly jerked off too. To his horror, the reflecting sunglasses slipped off his nose and plunged into the abyss below.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," he moaned.

Even with a blurry vision, Jeremie could still tell that a mega block had just focused its attention on him. He began to step backwards, trying to retreat, but he knew it was no good. Especially when the mega block revealed its weapon.

The immense blow came so fast Jeremie barely had time to leap out of harm's way. Another one came shortly after it had adjusted itself, and once again the boy genius had to rely on luck.

He sped around the mega block, trying to make sure it could focus on him. Finally, it seemed so dazed that it couldn't think straight, and spun around like a top.

"I hope this works," whispers Jeremie to himself.

Pulling up the sleeve of his jumper, he sprang forward. At last, the mega black noticed him. It opened up, and was charging up to fire when he brought down his fist. Smashing through the wires and circuits of the amazing creature, it was an immediate end to it.

Jeremie fell to his knees, clutching his right arm. Pain was shooting through it, and even if he had his glasses he was sure the pain would have blinded him anyway. He was completely defenseless, and even with the incredible super strength he had, it was no good if his arm was busted.

A silhouette loomed over him, and Jeremie knew that the end was coming…

"Take that!"

Odd fired two arrows, piercing two thirds of the group in an instant. The last roacher looked at the places where its group mates had been before deciding it really didn't care where they had gone off to.

"And you're going to be my ticket out of here!" Odd cried.

Firing another laser arrow, he didn't move out of the way of the explosion. Instead, he let it throw him backwards. Twisting in the air, he managed to lodge his claws into one of the thick supports. Pulling himself upwards with whatever upper body strength he had, Odd suddenly noticed something dark flying towards him. His tail snapped out and wrapped itself around the item.

It was a set of sunglasses. Sunglasses with a deathly sharp tip at the end. Odd clenched his teeth and took a chance. Leaping upwards, he slipped his claws into the support again, just in time.

When he was nearly there, he heard a cry of pain. His heart nearly stopped, and shock came over him.

"Jeremie!" he shouted instinctively, and hurried on. He didn't know how much longer Jeremie would be able to last.

"Here you go Einstein," a voice said cheerily from above.

Jeremie's eyes suddenly slid into focus as his sunglasses were put back on. Odd was standing above him, looking weary but happy.

"Odd… you're okay!" Jeremie cried.

The half boy, half cat looked at him strangely. "Of course I'm okay, what made you think otherwise?"

"You went over the edge…"

"Oh come on, you should know us better than that! We always have back-up plans."

A new voice interrupted them. "Jeremie, how'd you do that?"

Ulrich was gazing with awe at the fallen boy. He had observed Jeremie smash the mega block into oblivion, and he had no clue he had that much power.

"If you haven't noticed, we're not done yet," Yumi said as she slid next to them, blocking a beam as she did. "Jeremie, what happened to your arm?"

"No time to explain. I'll just have to use my left one," Jeremie replied, struggling to his feet. Snatching the sunglasses off his face, he hobbled towards a group of blocks, spinning around the eye wear to deflect the beams.

Holding his arm up into the air, he brought it down with tremendous speed, releasing his sunglasses just in time. Like a boomerang, they slid through the air, and cut into one of his targets. Yumi joined him, and a massive explosion took place, the sound ringing in their ears.

Both of them were synchronized as they caught their weapons, their left arms reaching across their bodies. Suddenly Odd leaped over them, at least 7 feet in the air.

"Chain reaction!" he cried, and fired half a dozen laser arrows towards a swarm of hornets.

None of the arrows were wasted. The sleek golden darts sunk into the hornets, and it was like one domino falling upon another. Odd let out a cry of surprise as he went hurtling through the smoke the blasts had made. The others held up an arm to their face to protect their eyes.

"Wahoo!"

When the dust had cleared, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi saw that Odd was riding a crab. It was bucking all over the place, attempting to get the crazy kid off. Yumi chuckled at the odd sight, like a cowboy at a rodeo in the Wild West.

But Odd was suddenly blown off his ride. Out of the hornets that hadn't been in the sudden onslaught, one of them had decided to put a fellow monster in danger. But the crab had not been harmed. However, Odd now lay on the ground, his chest flickering with the same electricity as before. He groaned, and when he opened his eyes, they were widened in shock. The crab from before was charging up, ready to aim one final blast at him.

"Hiya!"

Ulrich came to Odd's rescue, and threw his sword into the air like a javelin. It speed through, and came to rest in the scarlet Xana eye on the monster's head. That crab started to swerve like a drunk before blowing up.

Ulrich caught his sword, which had come hurtling through the air back at him when released from the crab, and spun it around, deflecting the shots from the massive horde of roachers. It glowed blue with the energy it observed, and it shook in his hands with the energy.

Sensing Ulrich's help now, Odd sat up and aimed for a place little over Ulrich's left shoulder. Shouting out his famous battle cry,

"Laser arrow!"

he shot out an arrow. It accidentally hit their shield, and was deflected right back at him. Odd let out a shout and ducked, just in time to hit a roacher that had snuck up from behind.

"All right!" he cried. "Ulrich, you can stop now."

They both dove out of the way as another dozen shots came flying towards them. Ulrich was taking deep breaths, and sweat covered his brow. He was leaning on his knees, trying to get back the energy that he lost.

There was only a dozen or so monsters left. The Lyoko gang knew that they would win this fight. Yumi got her fan back out, opening it up in front of her face mysteriously, Jeremie gripped his sunglasses, Ulrich held his sword in front of his face, and Odd readied himself by holding up his right arm, aiming for a monster.

"Augh!"

They all fell forward onto the ground, wounded by a surprise attack. While they had been sitting around, Xana had created another army of monsters, and they had attacked from the rear. All four of them looked wearily up to see the original cast glaring down at them, ready to shoot.

The next thing that happened seemed to occur in slow motion. The lasers were filed, and all of them gaped at the assault. They glided through the thin mountain air, ready to hit the wounded warriors.

"NO!"

A harsh voice, somewhat familiar, rang through the mountain valley, and all of a sudden, a periwinkle light formed a shield around them. The lasers were absorbed by the swirling light, and none of them could believe what happened. Even the monsters were looking around for an unseen force that had allied their enemies.

A pale tan dust had risen off a side path. A silhouette stood in it, alone. As the dust cleared, everyone observed a set of green eyes glaring out from under a mane of brilliant pink hair. Fists were clenched at their sides, and two mauve marks were under the eyes.

It was Aelita.

_**Returning to Face the World Returning to Face the World, Returning to face the**_

**A/N: This chapter is shorter than the last, but still has a lot of action. Here is Kgmck-117's original entry for the contest: **

**Jeremie: Silver sunglasses, blue jeans, green jumper with a black waistcoat, ****  
****boots. **

**Powers: Karate and incredible strength. Instead of being smart he's strong! Also maybe a bit of telekinesis**

**I didn't demonstrate the super strength and karate much. Sorry! Anyway, the new season of Code: Lyoko in English version has excited me so much! It won't influence any of my Code: Lyoko stories (like the ones I'm planning). Review please!**

**EDIT: Just on CL, I heard that Ulrich and Sissy kissed once, and I thought "EWWW!" But not before thinking that happened during my story! In that extra chapter I gave back a while ago, they kissed. It's so much like my story!**


End file.
